City of North Miami, Florida v. Train

377 F. Supp. 1264, 6 ERC 1841, 6 ERC (BNA) 1841, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7816
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJune 28, 1974
Docket74-714-Civ-WM
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 377 F. Supp. 1264 (City of North Miami, Florida v. Train) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of North Miami, Florida v. Train, 377 F. Supp. 1264, 6 ERC 1841, 6 ERC (BNA) 1841, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7816 (S.D. Fla. 1974).

Opinion

MEHRTENS, District Judge.

The City of North Miami, Florida, brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment, mandamus and injunctive relief against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and various administrators to prevent the EPA from approving applications by Metropolitan Dade County for funds to construct three regional treatment facilities. The complaint by the City of North Miami challenges the EPA for failure to comply with the requirements of the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (WPCA), Public Law 92-500, 86 Stat. 816, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq. (1972), and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), Public Law 91-190, 83 Stat. 852, 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq. (1970), in reviewing applications for funds for the implementation of the Dade County Water Quality .Management Plan (Master Plan).

The intervenors defending the challenge to the EPA are Metropolitan Dade County, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, also representing its Water and Sewer Authority and a nonprofit coalition consisting of the following non-governmental organizations: Tropical Audubon Society, League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Dade County, Progress for Dade, Inc. Builders Association of South Florida, Izaak Walton League of America, Miami Building and Construction Trades Council, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and Engineering Contractors Association of *1266 South Florida, Inc. Also intervening is the City of Miami, a potential indirect beneficiary of federal funds as they would finance the additional sewage treatment necessary to allow completion of its internal sewage collection system.

The complaint by the City of North Miami originally was filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia, and pursuant to the order of Judge John J. Sirica was transferred to the Southern District of Florida on. May 29, 1974. A temporary restraining order entered by Judge Sirica preserved the status quo until June 13, 1974, when plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction was considered and denied. On June 13,1974, the parties entered into a stipulation, approved by the Court, designed to preserve the status quo pending an agreed expeditious disposition of this cause upon cross motions for summary judgment. The City of North Miami and the intervenors moved for summary judgment on June 24, 1974, on which date responses to outstanding requests for discovery were served by the federal defendants.

Having considered the motion for summary judgment and supporting affidavits by the federal defendants, filed on May 29, 1974, it appears that there are no genuine issues of material fact, 1 and that the federal defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, based on the following facts and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Material Facts as to Which There Is No Genuine Issue

1. On September 25, 1970, Secretary of the Interior, Walter B. Hickel, at the request of Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr., of Florida, convened a conference concerning pollution of the navigable waters including tributaries, embayments and coastal waters of Dade County, Florida, pursuant to Section 10 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1151 et seq. On October 20, 1970, the first session was held in Miami. Agencies attending were the Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control, the United States Department of the Interior and the Federal Water Quality Administration.'

2. The final Federal Report concluded that (1) the 1,000 miles of canals of Dade County were grossly polluted and in violation of the County and state water quality standards; (2) widely used septic tanks were a public health hazard that contributed to over-enrichment and algae nuisances in adjacent waterways; (3) small “package” treatment plants constituted a potentially significant source of organic and bacterial pollution; (4) present methods for disposal through ocean outfalls without adequate treatment required modification because of public health hazards and detrimental effects of water quality; and (5) the major cause of poor water quality in Dade County was inadequately treated municipal sewage effluent. The conferees further concluded that pollution which endangers the health and welfare of Dade County residents was occurring, and that existing anti-pollution measures were inadequate.

3. The conferees recommended that the Metropolitan Dade County Commission present a master plan for abatement of pollution from all sources in Dade County by November 1, 1971. A time schedule for construction, for financing, for preparation of preliminary plans and specifications, for award of contracts, and for operation of such facilities was required.

The conferees also recommended (1) cessation of all waste water discharges into the inland canal system of Dade County not later than January 1, 1973; (2) providing a minimum of secondary treatment (90% BOD removal and year-round chlorination) for all ocean *1267 discharges not later than January 1, 1974; (3) that all new construction be connected to adequate sewage collection and treatment systems; and (4) that the County prepare an action plan to control additional sources of pollution during the period of design and construction of the pollution abatement program. They further recommended the prohibition of additional waste water discharges to lower Biscayne Bay, its tributaries and canals that drain to the Everglades. Removal of discharge to these waters was to be accomplished as rapidly as possible, but not later than January 1, 1974.

4. As a result, the County applied for a planning grant under Section 3(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in February of 1971.

5. An “Amended Supplement to the 1961 Master Plan” set forth the concept of three regional waste water treatment and collection systems to be located in North Dade County, Central Dade County and &outh Dade County, Florida.

The conferees found Dade County’s amended interim regional plan was acceptable as a first step in the development of the “Master Plan” but found it lacked an adequate time schedule for construction, arrangements for financing and consideration of water reuse. These shortcomings were then treated in the County’s 1972 “Interim Water Quality Management Plan for Metropolitan Dade County, Florida”. This plan was structured largely by the conclusions and recommendations of the three conference sessions.

6. Subsequently, the EPA and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development issued planning grants to Dade County.

7. On June 2, 1972, the Board of County Commissioners of Dade County, Florida, selected several consulting firms to prepare an “Environmental Assessment of the Interim Water Quality Management Plan”. The firms selected included local private consulting agencies, as well as companies or agencies from New York and Missouri. On September 1, 1972, the “Environmental Assessment” was completed.

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Related

Evans v. Train
460 F. Supp. 237 (S.D. Ohio, 1978)
Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. Costle
439 F. Supp. 980 (E.D. New York, 1977)
City of New Haven v. Train
424 F. Supp. 648 (D. Connecticut, 1976)
Mid-Shiawassee County Concerned Citizens v. Train
408 F. Supp. 650 (E.D. Michigan, 1976)
Bucks County Board of Commissioners v. Interstate Energy Co.
403 F. Supp. 805 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
377 F. Supp. 1264, 6 ERC 1841, 6 ERC (BNA) 1841, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7816, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-north-miami-florida-v-train-flsd-1974.